Hungary’s Viktor Orbán to meet Russia’s Vladimir Putin in Moscow for energy talks

BUDAPEST Hungary AP Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orb n is visiting Moscow for capacity talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin a rare step from a European leader while Russia s war grinds on in Ukraine The trip to Moscow is the second since last year for Orb n who is widely considered Putin s closest partner among all European Union leaders In comments to state media before departing for Moscow early Friday Orb n announced the focus of his talks with Putin would be Hungary s continued access to cheap Russian oil and gas guidance that have come under sanctions by the U S administration Hungary is one of only a minimal EU countries to continue importing large quantities of Russian fossil fuels and has strongly opposed efforts by the bloc to wean its member nations off Russian vitality supplies Earlier this month Orb n traveled to Washington for a meeting with U S President Donald Trump where he succeeded in securing an exemption to sanctions the Trump administration placed on Russian vigor companies Lukoil and Rosneft an allowance Orb n mentioned ensured Hungary s continued power measure Before departing from Budapest Friday Orb n commented that following Hungary s exemption from U S sanctions now all we need is oil and gas which we can buy from the Russians I am going there to ensure Hungary s resource supply at an affordable price both this winter and next year Orb n has long argued Russian strength imports are indispensable for his country s financial sector and that switching to fossil fuels sourced from elsewhere would cause an immediate economic collapse a claim particular critics dispute As the rest of Europe has gradually cut off Russian resource Hungary has maintained and even increased its imports and argued against an EU plan to eliminate all Russian fossil fuels by the end of The Trump administration has disclosed it is seeing signs that its sanctions on major Russian oil producers are crimping the economic engine that has allowed Moscow to continue to fund its war in Ukraine Prices for Russian oil have plunged as major Indian and Chinese buyers moved to comply with U S sanctions before they went into effect last week according to a senior Treasury Department official Meanwhile Trump last week circulated a plan for ending the nearly four-year war The -point proposal heavily favored Russia prompting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to expeditiously engage with American negotiators European leaders fearing for their own future facing Russian aggression scrambled to steer the negotiations toward accommodating their concerns Trump explained Tuesday that his plan to end the war had been fine-tuned and that he s sending envoy Steve Witkoff to Russia to meet with Putin and Army Secretary Dan Driscoll to meet with Ukrainian administrators He suggested he could eventually meet with Putin and Zelenskyy but not until further progress has been made in negotiations Putin explained Thursday that U S personnel are expected in Moscow in the first half of next week and that it apparently will be Witkoff The Russian president himself will excursion to India on Dec - for talks with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi the Kremlin reported Friday Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Friday refused to announce a date for Witkoff s visit saying only that the Kremlin will announce it in due time He reported that the main parameters of the peace plan revised during Ukraine-U S talks in Geneva last weekend were relayed to Russia and there will be a discussion in Moscow next week In other developments Russia s Defense Ministry shared Friday that its air defenses intercepted Ukrainian drones over a number of Russian regions and the annexed Crimea overnight Damage to cars residential buildings and houses was announced by government in the Rostov and Voronezh regions near the territory line with Ukraine Source